I'm a happy hooker who crochets her way through her day: on the bus, at diners, at home... with friends or alone.
"If that's what's being crazy is, then I'm senseless, out of it, gone-down-the-road, wacko." - McMurphy - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The game is SCATTERGORIES, and it’s harder than it looks!Here are the rules:Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Have fun!Your Name: Molly1. Famous Singer/Band: Madonna2. 4 letter word: Mint3. Street: Monterey Oaks Blvd (my street).4. Color: Mahoghany5. Gifts/Presents: Million in Cash?6. Vehicle: Mercedes7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Many Tacky Things8. Boy Name: Mike9. Girl Name: Moira10. Movie Title: "Metropolis"... or better yet "M"11. Drink: Manhattan12. Occupation: Manager13. Celebrity: Morgan Freeman14. Magazine: Marie Clare15. U.S. City: Marietta, PA16. Pro Sports Teams: Mariners?18. Reason for Being Late for Work: My car broke down...19. Something You Throw Away: Moldy Things in the Back of the Fridge.

Here is another gift that I made over vacation. Quinlan, my nephew, was grilling me on all things Texan. He wanted to know all about the big ole piece on his US of A puzzle map called Texas. I told him about Cowboys and how they round up cattle and whatnot... and told him about cowboy hats, boots, and spurs.

Of course, then I thought, why not make him a cowboy hat so he could be sherriff?

No pattern... the crown was made in single crochet... the brim crocheted in back loops only in double crochet. I held two pieces of yarn together, one strand was wool-ease in woods and the other was just some random off-white worsted weight yarn I had.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Sitting on top the blanket for Megan is the Elephant I made for Atticus. I started by following a pattern from a magazine (I'll have to look it up and let you know where it's from later). But, I forgot the pattern at home and winged everything but the torso of this guy.

I used worsted weight yarn and he's a very "tough" lil Elephant. I'm hoping to get a pic at some point of Atticus with the Elephant. Still to come are pics of the Sheep and Dragon hand puppets. As well as a Cowboy hat I made for Q. All were my own design.

Because I'm proud of the snuggly blanket (my biggest project in a long time)... here are some more angles on it:

Monday, June 18, 2007

Moving away from a lot of friends in Los Angeles was difficult and there are times, especially recently, that I really wish I could be there for them.

My friend Kate's brother died tragically right before graduating from high school just a few weeks ago. Although I didn't know him, I know and love his sister a great deal. Kate and I would get together with Teresa to stitch over such broad genres as Pride and Prejudice, Sex and the City, Monsters Inc, Munich, and the Super Bowl. The three of us would stitch away and make snarky comments about whatever it was that we were watching. We would talk about life, the universe, and everything in it. Why boys can suck and how yarn can rock...While we were living in LA within near proximity, Kate was studying some crazy smart stuff at UCLA for her Masters in some sort of science-y/chemistry-ish thing. She would talk about lab experiments in terms of baking cupcakes - which was a perfect metaphor so that I would be able to get it :o)After I moved away to Texas (or perhaps, overlapping), Kate started working at a lab out in Camarillo and I think that what she is doing has to do with making sure that their company's cupcake recipe is replicated correctly at other cupcake bakeries. Or something like that. I know it has to do with cupcakes.Anyway...we would touch base now and again on what was going on with her... but you know, moving apart sometimes makes for long spaces between talking, quick emails here and there. And really, I was so involved with starting up in a new place, that I hadn't be in touch with Kate, Teresa, or many of my amazing friends from la la land as much as I had hoped to be.

Hearing the news about Kate's brother broke my heart. Although so many people talk about high school being the best years of their life... I just have so many memories of huge swings in emotion and just the overwhelming stress of all that I knew changing very quickly. I was excited and hopeful for the change... but terrified.My senior year of high school, my friend Claudia's brother Robbie committed suicide over Christmas Break. He was a freshman at our brother school - a highly-lauded Jesuit school that my dad went to, cousins went to, various high school boyfriends went to...Robbie was beautiful, smart, funny, and one of the few lil bros I didn't mind hanging around when I was with his big sister. I knew that he was having a hard time adjusting to high school... just didn't know why.I found out about Robbie's death from a phone call from a mutual friend. A few days later, there was a full page article on the front page of the newspaper with a picture of Claudia and her family. The article explained that Robbie was mercilessly teased and bullied at school... and that he was gay and trying to come to terms with it with help from his family and a local GLB&T counseling center. He kept it as a secret at school and went to counseling after school. But he lived in fear of being found out...and at his school the insults were, of course, all anti-gay. Cuz that's as creative as Jesuit kids usually get.When Robbie died, I didn't know what to do or how to be there for Claudia. I felt completely helpless and just clumsy with it all.

10 years later, I feel exactly the same way with the death of Kate's brother. Just helpless and clumsy... and so far removed. I know more now from what I have read and what I have gathered from having buried a few other friends in the past few years. The one thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as a universal condolence when tragedy strikes. What I have learned is to listen and to let my friend who is suffering let me know what they need....so if they call me and want to laugh, we laugh. If they call me and want to cry, we cry.Being someone who often comforts myself by coming up with advice for others, it's hard to bite my tongue and just let it be all empathy. Cuz there really is no fixing death and grieving. It's just something that needs to run its course... so the best thing is to be a shoulder along the way.

After the news settled, I was talking with Teresa. "I feel so helpless, but I really want to do something... all day, I looked at afghan patterns online... but I don't know? Should I make her an afghan?"

"Did you get my email?" Teresa responded.

"Uh, no, I haven't checked it. Why? Were you thinking of doing the same thing? Because I can do something else..."

Teresa laughed a little, "Oh, no. You can make a blanket. It's just that I sent an email because I thought it might be a good idea for the members of Kate's stitch 'n' bitch to contribute squares. Then we can join them into a blanket to give to her from all of us. And if you wanted to, you could crochet a few... because although the others are mostly knitters, all of the squares will be different in yarn and stitch, so I think a few crochet ones will work fine."

Wow. Brilliance!

So, I set to work crocheting a few squares to be added by Teresa into Kate's blanket.

These were my contributions (pictures are clickable):Obviously, this blanket isn't going to fix anything. But it is a nice gesture of love from all of her stitching friends to let her know that she is in our thoughts and hearts.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

In just over a week, I stitched up this Ripple-Ghan for my sister Megan. It's perfect for snuggling under with her beautiful son and gerber baby wannabe Atticus... awww.

I finally got to meet him just before his first birthday. My family rented a guest house in the NC mountains for a week. It was the first time that all 6 siblings were under the same roof for a week since, I think, Christmas of '94.

Anyway... meeting my nephew was great and while we were there I made him a few other things which I will be posting as soon as I get back home and can load up the pics from my camera. In addition, I will post up a few more angles on this Ripple-Ghan so that you can see it spread over a bed. It was originally intended to be a lapghan, but without a pattern... I kind of just got carried away. It ended up being large enough to cover a full sized bed.I used Yarn Bee Chenille from Hobby Lobby. It's incredibly silky soft and the colors are very vibrant. Megan loves bright colors and these colors match the nursery and it's Froggie theme :o)I made him an elephant toy and a sheep hand puppet (the sheep was intended to look like Shaun the Sheep from Wallace and Gromit's A Close Shave). I also got to hang out with my adorable niece and other equally adorable and older nephew, Quinlan. I made Quinlan a dragon hand puppet. The dragon, sheep, and elephant were made without patterns. Though, for the elephant, I referenced a picture from a pattern when I was getting started.Pictures of those items will come later.

Friday, June 01, 2007

I haven't been posting as most of my crochet projects lately are top secret.

But, there is one project that I was able to send to my niece, so I can share that one. *drumroll*

Myla Rose just turned 1 in May and I wanted to crochet her a big girl dress now that she is walking. I looked all over for patterns and couldn't find one that seemed exactly right. So, I decided to just make one up. I used Yarn Baby Sweet Delight from Hobby Lobby which was on sale.

I asked her mom for her size (btwn 12 mos and 18mos) and then searched online for approximate measurements for this size. Most measurements go by weight and I wasn't sure what her weight was (a true lady never reveals her weight...). Moreover, I was determined to start the project right away. Once I have the yarn in hand, I really can't wait to start. So, I found this handy chart.

I made the top in a square to fit the chest measurement. Then, I crocheted the skirt to fit the waist. I made the top in all single crochets and the skirt with increases of diagonal shells. In between, I made some post stitches in Double Crochet to weave a belt/tie through.

Then, I made the back in single crochet. The straps were done in the shell stitch. Each shell is a button hole so that if the straps were too long, they were adjustable.

For the buttons, I used these sweet little rose buttons that I found at *gasp* Walmart. I know, I rarely shop there. But sometimes, it's just too easy. Since she is Myla rose, I thought a Rose pin would be a nice lil addition. I pinned it to the belt, though, it can be placed on the bodice or skirt. Or just removed completely.

And here is Miss Myla Rose modeling it for us:

and the back:

Awwwww... :o)

If I were to make it again, I would make decreases on the top so that it would fit her better and not be so square in the front... but other than that, I think it's pretty dern cute. Then again, anything would look cute on this baby. And yes, I am biased.